IT security is a hot button issue around the world right now as cybercrime rates skyrocket and governments and companies fail to keep up. Data is the lifeblood of the global economy in the 21st Century, and will continue to grow in importance as a greater portion of the population develops a digital presence.

Unfortunately, the abundance of data in the business world is a veritable gold mine for cybercriminals who would seek to acquire it and use it for selfish, criminal purposes. Certain technologies are in development that will help the good guys eventually win the war against cyber crime, such as advanced artificial intelligence. In the meantime, there are plenty of things that your business can do to decrease the likelihood of a cyberattack.

1. Employee Education is Essential

Making sure that your workforce is wary of and educated on the latest cyber threats is one of the best ways to ward off attacks against your business. Phishing and ransomware grow more popular by the month and use trickery to lure your employees into traps rather than forcing their way into your network.

Phishing in particular can be avoided by educating your employees and encouraging them to be constantly vigilant when dealing with communications technology and internet browsing. Scammers can’t take advantage of you if you develop the intuition necessary to avoid scams.

2. Cybersecurity Jobs Need Qualified Personnel

The information security field is desperate for new, qualified employees. By 2019 there could be 1.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs. That’s like going to war and finding out that your general was denied a request for 1.5 million additional troops. Until automation comes far enough to replace the poor bloody infantry of the war against cybercrime and free human resources up to handle high level decision making, these cybersecurity professionals will bear the brunt of the burden of keeping the world’s data safe.

This shortage of qualified personnel is partially a result of the education system not keeping up with the demands of the market. That’s changing right now — more universities are offering cybersecurity programs than ever before — but it remains to be seen if the gap will be filled before cybercrime runs rampant.

Luckily, we have a pretty good team of cybersecurity professionals on staff already here at 3Points.

3. Simple Policies Make a Huge Difference

You may be surprised at how simple basic cybersecurity can be if you put your mind to it. There are plenty of proactive steps your business can take right now to make your network a hacker’s nightmare. Consider requiring your employees to lock down their workstations whenever they’re not present. Implement a two-factor authentication policy to access critical data and require employees to change their passwords regularly. We joke about how password generators require us to use letters, numbers, symbols, the Greek alphabet and possibly a little bit of morse code, but the fact of the matter is that those complexities make it many times harder for a malicious party to access your data.

If you’re curious about other cybersecurity solutions, or think it’s time to get serious and talk to a professional about your information security, call 3Points today. Our team of experts would love to sit down and discuss what kind of benefits you can expect to see from professional IT services.